Chelsea Gray's 2,000th Career Assist, A'ja Wilson's 42nd 30-Point Game, and a Statement Win Over Dallas. 99-84

Thursday night at Michelob Ultra Arena had history written all over it before the first quarter even ended.

In front of a 56th consecutive sellout, the Las Vegas Aces took down the Dallas Wings 99-84 avoiding a season sweep after Dallas had taken two of the first three meetings between these teams. Las Vegas improves to 13-5. And on a night full of milestones, Chelsea Gray reached one of the rarest in WNBA history.

Chelsea Gray's 2,000th career assist puts her in elite company

With 24.5 seconds left in the third quarter, Gray fed Kierstan Bell inside for an assist that meant a whole lot more than two points. That was the 2,000th assist of Chelsea Gray's career making her the fourth player in WNBA history to reach at least 4,500 points AND 2,000 assists. She tied Lindsay Whalen for the second-fastest player to reach that combined milestone, doing it in 387 games. Only Sue Bird (367 games) and Diana Taurasi (467 games) are also on that list.

Sue Bird. Diana Taurasi. Lindsay Whalen. Chelsea Gray. That's the company she's in now. Gray finished the night with 12 points and a game high 9 assists business as usual for one of the greatest point guards to ever play this game. She also now has 196 games played in an Aces uniform, breaking a tie with Kayla McBride to sit alone at No. 10 in franchise history.

A'ja Wilson made more history because of course she did

32 points and 9 rebounds to lead all scorers. This was Wilson's 42nd career 30-point game second all-time behind only Diana Taurasi's 54. It was also her 175th career 20-point game, ranking third behind Tina Charles (190) and Taurasi (259). And she has now scored in double figures in a league-leading 42 consecutive games.

At some point I'm going to run out of new ways to say this A'ja Wilson is doing things in this league that almost nobody else has ever done, and she's doing it on a nightly basis.

Jackie Young was nearly perfect from the line

20 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists another complete two way performance. She also went 10 for 10 from the free throw line, marking just the fourth time in her career she's been perfect on at least 10 attempts. That kind of composure at the stripe in a game this physical says everything about where her confidence level is right now.

The bench made a real difference

Cheyenne Parker-Tyus scored 13 points and Kierstan Bell had a season high 10 both coming up big in a game where Las Vegas needed depth scoring to hold off a Dallas team that kept chipping away. The Aces bench outscored Dallas's bench 31-18. That depth advantage was real all night.

NaLyssa Smith grabbed a team high 11 rebounds, and Jewell Loyd's two made threes moved her into a tie for 10th place on the all-time franchise three point list with 128, just one behind Shameka Christon's 129.

The defense was the real story

This is the stat that jumps off the page the Aces held Dallas to 9.5 percent from three. Two made threes on 21 attempts. That is the lowest three point shooting percentage and fewest made threes Las Vegas has allowed all season. Dallas went a combined 0 for 12 from deep in the second half. Zero. The Aces also forced Dallas into their fewest rebounds of the season at just 24.

Dallas gave them a game for stretches

Credit to the Wings Paige Bueckers led them with 25 points and Jessica Shepard posted a 22 point, 14 rebound double-double. They cut the Aces lead to four in the third quarter and made things interesting for stretches. But the inability to hit from three down the stretch was simply too much to overcome against a team this complete.

My take

A 2,000th career assist for Chelsea Gray that puts her alongside Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, and Lindsay Whalen. A'ja Wilson's 42nd career 30-point game. A season high from Kierstan Bell. A defense that completely shut down Dallas from deep. This was a complete team win against a team that had given them trouble this season, and it came on a night that will be remembered for Chelsea Gray's place in the history books.

The Aces hit the road for their first matchup of 2026 against the Chicago Sky on Sunday June 28 at 1pm PT, broadcast nationally on CBS. Her Game Network will be watching.